As for the third opinion, it holds that saʿy is obligatory. This was the view of Abū Ḥanīfah, al-Thawrī, and al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī. It is likewise one of the reports from Imām Aḥmad, preferred by al-Qāḍī, al-Tamīmī, the author of al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr, the author of al-Fāʾiq, and affirmed in al-Wajīz. Imām Ibn Qudāmah also favored it in al-Mughnī, saying: “The statement of al-Qāḍī is, if Allah wills, closer to the truth, for the practice of the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions proves that it is obligatory, just like the casting of the pebbles and the shaving or cutting of the hair. That, however, does not require it to be a pillar, and the words of ʿĀʾishah are countered by the words of others.”

He further remarked in al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr when mentioning the narration of obligation: “This view is stronger, because the evidence of those who deem it obligatory establishes absolute obligation, not that the Hajj is invalid without it.”

As for the proofs that it is merely a sunnah, they are not compelling. The verse was revealed because the Companions felt uneasy about the saʿy on account of two idols that had stood in the pre-Islamic period, one on Ṣafā and the other on Marwah. The evidences for obligation are robust, though they do not elevate the rite to the level of a pillar.